Emirates has launched a regional charter service in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states using Embraer Phenom 100 light jets based at Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport. “Operated by the airline’s Phenom 100 twin-engine aircraft, customers can fly to a wide range of GCC destinations both within and outside of the Emirates network, with quick turnarounds to points in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and within the UAE,” the company said.
According to Emirates, its twinjets can seat up to four passengers, each of which can check in one medium-sized bag weighing up to 15 kilograms (33 pounds), as well as a carry-on handbag. Emirates did not respond to an AIN query asking how many of the Phenom 100 fleet would be used for the new service, as the aircraft previously have been allocated to Emirates Flight Training Academy for jet-transition training.
In 2015, the airline placed a firm order for five Phenom 100Es with options for an additional five. Emirates went on to order the Phenom 100EV.
Meanwhile, the company did not provide an update on the status of an Airbus ACJ319 at its Emirates Executive division. That bizliner joined the fleet in 2013 alongside an ACJ318 operated by Constellation Aviation Services.
Cirrus Aircraft is adding a pair of features to its Vision Jet to improve situational awareness and connectivity for pilots. The company on Wednesday announced that Garmin’s Auto Radar will now be a feature of the light jet, along with the Cirrus IQ mobile app.
Auto Radar allows pilots to select their desired radar range and then scans airspace and displays a composite, real-time depiction of weather conditions. By automatically selecting an optimal horizontal scan pattern and vertical tilt combination, the system creates an in-depth view of the weather ahead with automatic ground-clutter suppression.
Meanwhile, the Cirrus IQ app helps pilots to proactively check key aircraft readiness items that can be updated after each flight. These include fuel and oxygen supply levels, the aircraft location, flight hours, and engine cycles.
The LTE-enabled hardware that powers Cirrus IQ is now standard on new G2+ Vision Jets, and Auto Radar is available as part of the manufacturer’s enhanced awareness package. The app is available as part of the JetStream contract offered to owners, and Cirrus intends to make the options available for retrofit on older aircraft.
CitationPartners’ Citation Excel Eagle is seeing a significant jump in valuation. Aircraft valuator specialist Vref increased the premium for the upgraded Citation model from $1.25 million to $1.9 million over a standard Excel, according to CitationPartners president Russ Meyer III. The result, CitationPartners estimated, can be upwards of a $700,000 net financial gain when taking into account the cost of the upgrade and tax breaks.
Meyer noted that inflation had a modest bearing on the jump in valuation but credited the increase largely on the market response to the upgrade. Founded four years ago by former Cessna executives in partnership with Yingling Aviation and Garmin International, CitationPartners announced the Citation Excel tip-to-tail refurbishment program in early 2021 and began delivery of the aircraft that year, with the first handed over to Blaine, Minnesota-based North Central Aviation.
Upgrades, which can be completed in as little as 60 days, include the installation of Garmin G5000 avionics and a custom interior, with optional exterior refurbishments. The aircraft, which undergo a comprehensive inspection and parts replacement, where necessary, come with a Textron Aviation ProParts support program.
Airavat Aviation, an affiliate of Dubai-based global shipping and logistics conglomerate Transworld Group, has launched charter flight operations from Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport (OMDW). It mainly expects to carry passengers to destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East with a pair of Hawker 4000s.
The new company holds an air operator certificate (AOC) issued by authorities in San Marino. Transworld Group chairman Ramesh Ramakrishnan told AIN that aircraft management group Titan Aviation, which also operates largely under a San Marino AOC, is providing support for the operations.
Airavat's first Hawker 4000 is already operational, while the second of the super-midsize twinjets is set to join the fleet in mid-August, adding to the company's capacity to serve a broader range of destinations and itineraries. It fully owns both of these airplanes and has plans to further expand the fleet.
“By holding our fleet, we can maintain strict control over maintenance schedules, ensuring that our aircraft are always in top-notch condition and offering a level of reliability and consistency that sets us apart in the luxury aviation sector,” Ramakrishnan said. “Some of the popular destinations we will be serving include cities such as London, Rome, Barcelona, Zurich, Istanbul, and Beirut.”
Duncan Aviation Encourages Flight Departments to Plan for Year-End Transactions
In the past, an aircraft purchase/upgrade could be accomplished relatively quickly. Ann Pollard, a transaction expert with Duncan Aviation’s Aircraft Sales & Acquisitions team, says transactions are currently taking longer to close. This means those looking to transact an aircraft before the end of the year need to plan now.
In a joint effort with U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-New York), Sen. Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) is taking aim at “fat cat” corporate aircraft with a bill to increase fuel taxes for private jets ninefold from the current 21.9 cents per gallon to $1.95. Entitling the bill the Fueling Alternative Transportation with a Carbon Aviation Tax—or FATCAT—Act, Markey estimated that the tax increase would be the equivalent of charging about $200 per tonne of a private jet's CO2 emissions. The FATCAT Act would also remove fuel-tax exemptions for logging and oil and gas exploration.
Resulting tax revenue would help fund a newly created Clean Communities Trust Fund “to support air monitoring for environmental justice communities and long-term investments in clean, affordable public transportation across the country—including passenger rail and bus routes near commercial airports,” according to Markey.
Markey’s announcement further stated that “per passenger, private jets pollute up to 14 times more than commercial flights and 50 times more than trains, producing as much emissions as millions of cars every year in the U.S. Despite their sky-high emissions per passenger, private air travel is taxed considerably less than commercial air travel.”
“It’s time to ground these fat cats and make them pay their fair share,” Markey said. “The 1 percent can’t free ride on our environment and our infrastructure at a discount.”
Stevens Aerospace plans to expand its MRO services to Fulton County Executive Airport at Brown Field in Atlanta, following the signing of a strategic alliance agreement with Hill Aircraft and Priester Aviation. The contract calls for Stevens to provide maintenance services for existing Hill clients and new operators in the region.
Under the arrangement, Hill will continue to operate the Atlanta FBO while upgrading and expanding its client offerings with Stevens’s maintenance capabilities. Stevens expects its Fulton County operation to be fully active by this fall. Stevens operates MRO facilities in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Ohio, offering maintenance, avionics, paint, and interior services on business aircraft ranging from King Airs to Gulfstreams for civilian operators and government agencies.
“We are excited to expand our footprint into the Atlanta area with a fixed location,” said Stevens Aerospace president Christian Sasfai. “Our mobile service division has a significant presence in Atlanta but with the addition of this hangar space, we can expand our service offering to the Atlanta market.”
Polish authorities are more strictly enforcing passenger name record (PNR) regulations that apply to aircraft operators flying into the country. Based on new legal advice from Paweł Mazur of local law firm Warddynksi & Partners, EBAA has warned its members to ensure that they provide the full details about passengers required by the Polish Border Guard.
Due to a lack of resources, the border guard has allowed some discretion in the enforcement of PNR rules, but strictly speaking this covers only violations that occurred before Feb. 4, 2022. A moratorium on penalties for noncompliance is set to expire on Feb. 5, 2024, and Polish officials have indicated they are now deploying additional staff to enforce the rules at airports across the country.
PNR data is required for passengers entering or departing all European Union member states and is part of wider controls aimed at cross-border crime and terrorism. It is supposed to be collected before arrival or departure from aircraft operators, but there have been inconsistencies in how individual member states enforce the requirements.
Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority this week released guidelines for vertiport design following a public consultation process that closed at the end of March. The regulator has been assessing proposed requirements for eVTOL aircraft landing sites covering factors such as site selection, physical characteristics, and visual aids.
Melbourne-based vertiport developer Skyportz welcomed the initiative, for which it has long advocated. “This is a great step forward for Australia and shows our preparedness to welcome this new industry into Australian skies,” said company founder and CEO Clem Newton-Brown. Skyportz is working to develop vertiports at some 400 sites around Australia.
Last month, Skyportz unveiled a design for affordable, modular vertiports suitable for smaller locations. The company said the aluminum shell units, which it described as a vertiport-in-a-box, could be delivered and installed almost anywhere.
Earlier this year, Australia’s federal government released AU$36 million ($24 million) in funding to support plans to develop the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry in the country. It also published a roadmap to prepare for the introduction of eVTOLs. State governments in Victoria and Queensland have shown a willingness to support AAM development.
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